Law and land sales in Palestine debated<\/p>\n
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP): The Palestinian legislature began
\ndebating yesterday a radical law which would declare all sales of
\nland in \"Palestine\" to Israelis as \"national treason.\"<\/p>\n
The \"Property law for foreigners\" threatens \"maximum
\npunishment\" for Palestinians who sell land to Israelis and would
\nalso bar property sales to non-Israeli foreigners unless the
\ndeals received prior approval from the Palestinian Authority
\ncouncil of ministers.<\/p>\n
The elected 88-member legislative council launched its debate
\namid a crisis in the peace process caused by Israel's policy of
\nexpanding Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian areas.<\/p>\n
The debate also coincides with a controversial crackdown by
\nPalestinian security forces against Arabs who sell land to
\nsettlers.<\/p>\n
In a bid to avoid violating interim peace agreements with
\nIsrael which prohibit the Palestinians from adopting any laws
\nwhich would harm \"Israeli interests,\" the bill makes no explicit
\nreference to Israel, Israelis or Jews.<\/p>\n
Its provisions refer only to \"occupiers,\" defined as \"the
\ngovernment of occupation, its civilian and military institutions
\nand its individual citizens.\"<\/p>\n
\"Any past or future deals with the occupiers concerning
\nproperties in Palestine are considered null and void,\" said the
\ndraft bill.<\/p>\n
The text left the notion of \"Palestine\" undefined, apparently
\nto avoid referring specifically to Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem
\nwhich under the interim peace accords falls outside Palestinian
\nAuthority jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
But some legislators asserted the law concerned all territory
\nwhich fell under the pre-1948 British mandate of Palestine,
\nincluding present-day Israel.<\/p>\n
\"Any Palestinian who sells land in violation of this law will
\nbe considered to have committed national treason and will receive
\nthe maximum punishment,\" the draft states.<\/p>\n
The document does not spell out the meaning of \"maximum
\npunishment,\" but legislative sources said this referred to a 1967
\nJordanian law which imposed the death penalty for sales to Jews
\nof land captured by Israel in the 1967 war.<\/p>\n
\"Any foreigner who violates this law will be prosecuted on
\ncharges of harming the national interest and will receive a life
\nsentence,\" it added.<\/p>\n
The law also forbids anyone from acting as a middleman in land
\nsales which violate the draft's terms and it sets out procedures
\nto regulate land sales between Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The Israeli government has already said it would consider any
\nPalestinian law on such land sales as a violation of peace
\naccords and null and void.<\/p>\n
Palestinian Authority officials provoked an international
\nuproar last month by announcing that they would begin using the
\nJordanian law to prevent sales of Palestinian land to Jewish
\nsettlers.<\/p>\n
Three land agents suspected of selling property to settlers
\nwere subsequently found murdered in the West Bank town of
\nRamallah and a number of others have been detained.<\/p>\n
The deadly crackdown sparked sharp protests from Israel, which
\nhas issued arrest warrants for Palestinian security agents
\nsuspected in the deaths of two of the land sellers.<\/p>\n
The United States called on Yasser Arafat's Palestinian
\nAuthority to withdraw the death threat and the U.S. congress
\nthreatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian entity over the
\naffair.<\/p>\n
For Palestinians, the sale of land in the West Bank, Gaza
\nStrip and East Jerusalem to Israelis strengthens the Jewish
\nstate's claim to the occupied territories and undermines their
\ngoal of creating an independent state.<\/p>\n
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations broke down three months
\nago over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy of
\nexpanding Jewish settlements on occupied Arab land.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/law-and-land-sales-in-palestine-debated-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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